Chapter 1608: Attempt

Ye Yaodong lay on the bed, playing with the silk stockings in his hand; they were silky and smooth. When he slid his palm inside, flesh showed through, faint and elusive—truly quite sexy.

After thinking for a moment, he pulled open the drawer and took out the lipstick. If Ah Qing got a big wave perm, this lipstick would be perfect.

Add a pair of high heels, and it would be flawless!

Just imagining it, he was about to drool; he hissed and wiped it dry.

When he took the bosses for massages, those young girls wore silk stockings and high heels; his eyes had feasted on ice cream enough.

Now that he was back, he finally had a grand feast to look forward to.

No, tomorrow he must reward his daughter with another ten yuan; she was so capable, so smart, and so considerate.

Ye Yaodong lay there, fantasizing while waiting for Lin Lin Xiuqing to return; who would have thought, he was just too tired and actually fell asleep again, damn it.

He woke up briefly in the middle of the night when he felt someone beside him, finally making up the lesson simply; the silk stockings, which had been in his hand, were nowhere to be found by midnight.

When he woke up the next morning, he felt a bit annoyed, then found the stockings he couldn't touch at night inside the quilt.

He casually stuffed them under the pillow; he would surely find a use for them at home in a few days.

Ye's mother, back in the village like a fish in water, was full of energy early in the morning, boasting in the workshop, acting out with singing and gestures, occasionally slapping her thighs and raising her voice; those who didn't know might have thought she was performing a grand opera.

Ye Yaodong went over after eating; as soon as he approached, he heard it and couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth. It was hard on his mother to have stayed up there for over a month; truly hard work for her, she must have been stifled.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi was also playing with a group of children under a nearby cherry tree.

She stood there holding a long branch; the children around her were like good little babies, squatting and sitting in the shade, listening as she gestured and tapped the tree trunk, as if a teacher were giving a lesson to students.

Ye Yaodong went around the inside and then the outside, growing somewhat worried that his mother would spoil the children.

The sun was already very strong early in the morning; fearing the children would run wild outside, get sweaty, and then suffer sunstroke or tanning, he went to take Ye Ye Xiaoxi home.

"It's so hot outside; why are you running around recklessly?"

"It's only morning; it's not hot."

"When will you go learn the erhu from the old master?"

"It was always on Sundays before."

"Let's go; while the sun isn't so fierce in the morning, buy something to visit your old master."

"Great, great!"

Ye Yaodong told her to go say hello to Lin Lin Xiuqing, while he went home to rummage through things and see if there was anything presentable to take.

It didn't need to be too valuable; something everyday would do; after all, it was just a casual visit to look around, and to continue having Ye Ye Xiaoxi study.

Becoming a disciple shouldn't be done casually; since she has become one, she must study properly, not fishing for three days and drying nets for two. Now that she is back, of course, arrangements must be made.

And since he himself has returned, of course, he must take the child to visit the master's home to show respect.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi had studied intermittently for a year or two and hadn't gained nothing; even after not practicing for a month or so, her posture and hand gestures remained very upright, and she could still play a short piece simply.

Ye Yaodong stayed for an hour, watched her play a short piece, and then felt reassured; he agreed that she would come over for two hours every morning from now on, then return home just before lunch.

Before leaving, he also left a red envelope.

"Dad, when are you leaving?"

"In a couple of days."

She was shy and hesitant. "Can I... go with you... again?" Her voice grew quieter and quieter.

Ye Yaodong's eyebrows knitted into a ball. "You're too full; haven't you ever been on a boat?"

"I can come back with my brothers and the others when the time comes."

"Don't meddle; stay home and do your homework obediently. You haven't even finished your summer homework yet, and you want this and that."

She pouted. "I regret it; school is starting soon, and I haven't bought new stationery! I came back too early!"

Ye Yaodong poked her forehead with his index finger. "Poor students have lots of stationery; do you plan to set up a small shop at school to sell them?"

"Other people use one pen and one eraser for a whole semester; you have twenty pens and twenty erasers, and you'd sell nineteen of them."

"No middleman is as black-hearted as you; at least others earn money from outsiders, but you fleece your own father, earning on both ends. No wonder they say 'kill the familiar'; you have no capital, just an open mouth."

"No buying allowed; look at your schoolbag, so much stationery—erasers, pencils, rulers, pencil sharpeners with different patterns, all a mess. I think you'll never finish using them in your lifetime."

She said quietly, "If I can't finish them, I'll sell them... it's not a loss; the small shop's stuff isn't even as nice-looking as mine."

Ye Yaodong flicked her forehead. "Don't give me all that nonsense; if you don't study well, I'll have you selling stationery at school."

"But Xiao Hong, Qingqing, and Doudou all asked if I bought new stationery back; they want to buy from me when school starts."

"Won't they go to the small shop? Go home and do your homework; I'll watch you do it today."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi's shoulders slumped, and she sighed silently.

Children have no human rights.

Came back too early; slap the thigh.

Ye Yaodong didn't keep staring at her doing homework; after lunch, he let her rest and play for a while, as he also needed to take a nap.

After waking up in the mid-afternoon, he still had to go to the factory in town for a spin.

Lin Lin Xiuqing woke up early in the morning and also had the habit of taking a nap.

At noon, when the sun was fiercest, the women who cleaned fish also had their rest time.

Ye Yaodong lay down in the room and immediately reached under the pillow for the black stockings, then wrapped them around his hands to play with, waiting for Lin Lin Xiuqing to finish tidying up and come in for her nap.

Ye Ye Xiaoxi would never take a nap; she would rather run outside under the sun than nap at home.

The old lady also had the habit of taking a nap; since Ye's mother had just returned, there were plenty of places to stroll after meals.

By any look, no one would disturb them.

Ye Yaodong lay on the bed with his feet up, bored, wrapping the black stockings around his leg again and again; leg hair showed faintly, and he almost got disgusted with himself. Fortunately, at that moment, Lin Lin Xiuqing pushed the door open and came in.

"Why did you take out these stockings again?"

"For you to wear."

"You're crazy; these are so long, how am I supposed to wear them? I'm still wearing long pants. Do you expect me to wear black stockings underneath and long pants on top? Put them away."

"What do you mean 'what'? It's your daughter's filial piety. You bought it and won't even try it on? Try it first."

Ye Yaodong held two pairs of stockings in his hand, waiting for her to take them.

Lin Lin Xiuqing held them up, comparing and measuring, "These have to go up to the thighs? It would be more practical to buy those short socks for the old lady."

He twitched the corner of his mouth; the image was already forming in his mind.

The old lady or his mother wearing plastic sandals, with flesh-colored nylon short socks up to the ankles, the edges of the ankles visible every time they squatted or sat down.

Eye-bleeding.

"Hurry up and try them on, stop dragging things in from here and there." Brainwash me first.

Lin Lin Xiuqing ran to pull the curtains first, muttering, "Forcing me to wear them, what a hassle, I have to take off my pants..."

She always wore long pants, so her neck wasn't as white, but her body and legs were a snowy white.

The black stockings slowly slid over her toes, black and white contrasting, all the way up to her thighs; Ye Yaodong could hardly keep his eyes off.

Isn't this better than those young girls wearing them? Those girls are younger, with little flesh on their legs, like chopsticks; these legs are plump and sexy.

"Putting on one is the same, or should we just leave it like this?"

"Since you're already wearing them, why not put both on and take a look?"

He leered with lustful eyes but hadn't touched yet, afraid he wouldn't finish putting on the other one before he exploded.

Lin Lin Xiuqing had no choice but to continue slowly putting on the other one.

"The quality doesn't look good; there are holes everywhere. If your nails are a bit long, they'll snag and tear, or if you bump into tables and chairs outside, they'll break too."

"It's fine, just treat them as disposable."

"That's such a waste of money. Treating them as disposable is too luxurious. When will these socks ever be worn? I guess one pair is worth ten pairs of short socks? They use more material than those short socks."

"When to wear them? Of course, wear them now."

Ye Yaodong smiled and pounced, hugging her from behind, then started touching her thighs.

"What are you doing..."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"In broad daylight..."

"Didn't you pull the curtains? What are you afraid of? A spring night is worth a thousand gold. It's not easy for Laozi to come back, and I'll be leaving in at most two days; shouldn't we make the most of it?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing half-resisted and half-yielded as she lay down, but saw his two hands constantly rubbing up and down the stockings on her two legs.

"I should take these stockings off..."

"Take what off? Don't take them off. You have to keep them on. We haven't tried this yet; let's do something different today..."

"Huh?"

"It's so sexy, black and white showing the flesh; it makes me excited..."

Lin Lin Xiuqing laughed and slapped him, "I said, why have you been coaxing me to wear them since last night, holding them in your hand the whole time? So that was your plan."

"Of course."

"Did you buy them?"

"Actually, I didn't buy them; my daughter did. So thoughtful. I didn't even think of this. I didn't care what she bought, and I wasn't with her. I was too busy myself, didn't have time to look after her, just gave her money. I didn't expect that after returning from Magic City to Zhou City, she would present me with all sorts of treasures. I really didn't spoil her for nothing."

"That damn girl, so cunning."

Ye Yaodong kissed and undressed her; when she was only in stockings, his eyes went straight.

"Oh... we're missing a pair of high heels..."

Lin Lin Xiuqing kicked him, "Why are you playing so wildly? High heels? What have you been doing out there all day?"

"Nothing much, I've been very honest. Otherwise, how could I be so eager to come back, trying whatever I think of with you?"

"That's debatable. Looking at your well-traveled appearance, now you can make me wear black stockings and high heels; who knows what fetishes you have."

"Didn't I see women in big cities wearing them on the road before? Unknowingly, I thought they looked good, and then I thought of you."

Black stockings indeed increased the attack speed; Fatty's Little Emperor's Book hadn't lied to him.

Not to mention the tactile feel, the visual impact alone was incredibly exciting.

It's just that the bamboo mat was too rough on the knees; after moving for too long, his knees hurt from kneeling.

Later, they simply flipped over for greater impact...

Fortunately, he wasn't that kind of young man, otherwise he would have had a nosebleed.

After both of them were drenched in sweat, they were too lazy to move. An electric fan in the room creaked and shook its head, but the wind power wasn't enough.

Ye Yaodong stretched out his arm and turned the electric fan to level 3; the sound of the wind became louder.

"Why not turn it on earlier? It could have covered the noise just now."

"Wasn't I busy just now?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing punched him, "Are you satisfied now? I'm dying of heat. These stockings are still stuck to my legs, all sweaty."

"Hehe, the quality is actually quite good, not broken. Take them off later, wash them, and use them again tomorrow."

"Use them again tomorrow? I'm dying of heat. You insisted on wearing an extra pair of socks, and even up to the thighs."

She complained in her mouth, but seeing the stockings were fine, naturally she wouldn't throw away something good.

After taking them off, she put them in the foot-washing basin, planning to scrub and wash them later before putting them away.

Ye Yaodong also turned over with a satisfied expression, continuing his afternoon nap.

Only wealthy people with broad experience know how to play; he wouldn't have thought of it in his past life.

When he woke up, he ran straight to the town, returning as usual in the middle of the night smelling of smoke and alcohol.

The next two days were the same; except for lunch when he could be seen, at other times it was just luck, or seeing him only in the middle of the night.

And he couldn't stay at home for long; mainly because the fishing boat couldn't stay idle. Otherwise, resting for a few more days wouldn't matter, but the fishing boat had to be put into operation to transport goods.

After working hard these two days, he secured quite a few more orders. The cargo volume for the next trip increased significantly. Doing business still requires one's personal presence; over the phone, it's just relying on reputation.

Business is indeed thriving now; with connections and goods, a single intermediary can secure any order by treating people to meals, drinks, and entertainment.

Time at home is always short, but at least I've returned several times this year, which is far better than last year.

Seeing that he must leave tonight, the old lady felt reluctant to part with him and kept murmuring throughout the meal.

"Does this mean I have to deliver goods back every week now?"

"More or less. The connections are quite stable, but they still need constant maintenance. Barring any accidents, I'll definitely have to return three or four times a month."

"That's good. Even though each visit lasts only two days, that adds up to eight days a month, which is roughly the same as a two-day weekend every week."

The old lady thought about it and felt satisfied again. It was rare indeed; factory workers get only one day off a week, and students get only Sunday off. Dongzi, delivering goods like this, effectively gets two days off a week, so eight days a month was no small feat.

Lin Lin Xiuqing thought about it too and agreed that the current arrangement was good, equivalent to coming home every week.

Ye Yaodong was just speaking nicely; he couldn't possibly return with every single boat. At most, he would accompany a few trips in the early stage, rotating with his father, and then have to treat those bosses to outings whenever he returned.

"Your luggage is all packed for you."

"Mm. I've ordered several large drying machines. For now, they'll go to the processing plant above. Once we equip it with more advanced machinery, we'll ship last year's equipment from that factory back here to our side."

"Good."

"You know where the wasteland I bought in the city is. If you have time, go over there and build a wall around it first. It's been sitting there for three years; construction must start soon, or if the government finds another use for it, they might take it back."

"I know. You told me last night. When you leave, I'll go to the city to check it out and then find a construction team to get things started. The fish sauce factory in the city is handling a large volume now and takes up quite a bit of space; the current location isn't even enough for storage."

Ye Yaodong nodded. "Just follow what I said yesterday: use one plot of land to build a large warehouse and another to build a cold storage. We have no shortage of money for investment."

"If we build it now, by the time I go to the deep sea next year, we'll have enough ships to arrange a full cargo shipment back immediately. Anything that would be a pity to throw into the sea can be loaded onto a single ship. Then we won't need to go anywhere for raw materials or purchase anything from outside."

When those large ships move, the fuel cost is terrifyingly high, but when shipping goods as needed, it's still very cost-effective to fill up any spare space with items we'd hate to dump into the sea.

Even if an entire ship were loaded with worthless things, it wouldn't be a loss; it would still be worth it.

But the cost-performance ratio is a bit low. After all, if sold, one ship's cargo could fetch over a hundred or even two hundred thousand. So, we can only fill up a bit more when shipping needed goods back, but that's enough for the family's use.

Although he left early and returned late, he still communicated and planned with Ah Qing. Everything was planned; they were just short of equipment and production tools.

Everything was in short supply, not just for him. Shortages were everywhere, which is why productivity remained low.

But things have improved significantly in recent years; industrial development has been rapid.

"I've noted everything you said. Anyway, if anything happens or you face difficulties, find Godfather."

"Mm. If I'm not home and you go to the city, you can also visit and pay respects more often. You can even bring your daughter along; that child is simply amazing."

Lin Lin Xiuqing chuckled. "I know that. Whenever I go to the city, I'll stop by to visit. Unless the child has school, of course."

"No, no, no. You don't have to bring those two boys, but you must bring your daughter. Her mouth is like it's been smeared with honey. When she goes to the big courtyard, both the old and the young are charmed into a frenzy; she can say anything and flatter people into a daze."

"Is that so? I only know she can flatter the aunts and grandmas in the workshop until they praise her to the heavens."

"She's so naturally familiar with everyone. Even a dog walking by would be stopped by her for a chat. In just one night, she's already become close with all the children in the entire courtyard."

Ye Ye Xiaoxi wasn't here at the moment, or her tail would be wagging with pride up to the sky.

Children eat incredibly fast; as soon as they finish, they run out to play. They won't be like us adults, chatting while eating and drinking a couple of cups, taking half an hour just for a meal.

"Alright, I know. Next time I go to the city, I'll bring her along. Having a child around can liven up the atmosphere, which isn't bad. It will just make her overjoyed; if I take her everywhere but not her brothers, the boys will be furious."

"Those two boys have become a bit sensible now. Working has tempered their temperaments; they don't seem so obsessed with playing anymore and have become slightly more steady."

"Mm."

Ye's mother interjected, "By the way, that Ah Hong from your Uncle's family says he'll be released in another week. Your Aunt came to see me this afternoon and asked if you could find him a job."

"I have nothing he can do. My temple is too small to house such a great Buddha; he's a man destined for great undertakings."

"I said the same. Ah Fan is fine; he looks honest and decent, merely suffering due to his older brother's troubles. As for Ah Hong, forget it. I'm just telling you to give you a heads-up."

"Why is he being released so soon?"

"They said he received a sentence reduction."

PS: I had diarrhea three times this afternoon and three times tonight; my anus hurts...

(End of this chapter)